{"id":832,"date":"2024-06-21T00:42:05","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T00:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/?p=832"},"modified":"2024-06-21T00:42:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T00:42:16","slug":"how-does-the-inner-ear-affect-hearing-and-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/how-does-the-inner-ear-affect-hearing-and-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does the Inner Ear Affect Hearing and Balance?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The inner ear plays a crucial role in our ability to hear and maintain balance. Let\u2019s dive into the anatomy of the inner ear and explore how damage to the delicate structure can cause hearing loss and balance issues.<\/p>\n<h2>The Anatomy of the Inner Ear<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Human auditory system model\" src=\"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/iStock-1704335158-768x576.jpg\" alt=\"Model of the human ear and cochlea\" width=\"525\" height=\"394\" class=\"wp-image-835 alignright\" srcset=\"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/iStock-1704335158-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/iStock-1704335158.jpg 1183w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The inner ear contains three main parts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The cochlea<\/strong>. The cochlea is a fluid-filled, spiral-shaped structure lined with approximately <a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/body\/24340-inner-ear\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">18,000 tiny hair cells<\/a>. When sound enters the cochlea, the fluid inside moves, stimulating the hair cells. The hair cell movement sends an electrical signal to the auditory nerve. The auditory nerve carries the signal to the brain\u2019s temporal lobe, where it is perceived as sound.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The semi-circular canals<\/strong>. The semi-circular canals are coiled, hair-lined tubes in the inner ear. The hair cells in the canals react to bodily movements and are responsible for any motion that does not occur in a straight line (rotary motion).<\/li>\n<li><strong>The vestibule<\/strong>. The utricle and saccule organs in the vestibule are responsible for upward\/downward and forward\/backward motion. When fluid shifts in the semi-circular canals, the fluid in the utricle and saccule moves, helping your brain understand the movement and keep you balanced.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The Inner Ear and Hearing Loss<\/h2>\n<p>Hearing loss of the inner ear, or sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), can result from aging, disease, loud noises, genetics or ototoxic medications (medication that damages the auditory system). SNHL is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asha.org\/public\/hearing\/sensorineural-hearing-loss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">most common type of permanent hearing loss<\/a>. It may arise quickly due to extremely loud noise exposure or progress slowly as you age.<\/p>\n<p>While most cases of SNHL are permanent, management tools like hearing aids and cochlear implants can amplify external sounds to <a href=\"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/hearing-aids\/choosing-a-hearing-aid\/\">help compensate for the condition<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>The Inner Ear and Balance<\/h2>\n<p>Your vestibular system (the semi-circular canals and vestibule) sends information to your brain about your body&#8217;s position in space\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/balance\/balance-overview\/\">helping you stay balanced<\/a>. Vestibular dysfunction may present with dizziness, poor balance, blurred vision, excessive falling or disorientation. A few things that can damage or disrupt these symptoms include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hopkinsmedicine.org\/health\/conditions-and-diseases\/vestibular-balance-disorder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">medicines, infections, calcium debris in the canals and poor circulation in the canal<\/a>. Because the vestibular and auditory systems are closely linked, when one is damaged, you are likely to see damage in the other.<\/p>\n<p>Depending on the underlying cause of your balance issues, your provider may recommend medication, physical or occupational therapy, surgery, repositioning exercises, vestibular retraining programs or lifestyle modifications. In some cases, patients who also present with hearing loss may benefit from the increased <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC9666870\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">background and spatial awareness hearing aids offer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If you struggle to understand those around you or stumble more often than usual during walks around Torrance Park, contact <span class=\"company-name \">Torrance Audiology<\/span> today to make an appointment with one of our hearing or balance specialists.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"related-posts\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/balance-hearing-whats-the-connection\/\" class=\"related-post\">Balance &#038; Hearing: What\u2019s the Connection?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/how-an-ear-infection-can-upset-your-balance\/\" class=\"related-post\">How an Ear Infection Can Upset Your Balance<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/how-to-spot-the-signs-of-a-balance-disorder\/\" class=\"related-post\">How to Spot the Signs of a Balance Disorder<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The inner ear plays a crucial role in our ability to hear and maintain balance. Let\u2019s dive into the anatomy of the inner ear and explore how damage to the delicate structure can cause hearing loss and balance issues. The Anatomy of the Inner Ear The inner ear contains three main parts: The cochlea. The&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","locid":"","rating":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-balance","category-hearing-aids","category-hearing-loss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":837,"href":"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832\/revisions\/837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torranceaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}